Letter to a Writer (Open Letter Essay)
Please write 1000 or more words for this essay.
Remember the strategy : first, identity stuff that “struck you” in the essay–moments you remembered, word choices that you thought
were interesting, points that you found particularly standout from the text. Second, look for patterns. Does the author use this kind
of choice anywhere else? Can you link one choice to other choices? Third, ask yourself what this means on a larger level, to the essay
overall (itsstory level). If Orwell says he’s “all on the side of the Burmese,” yet he consistently criticizes them, could you write
him a letter that says his craft is undermining what he’s saying in his content? If he describes an elephant with human characteristics
and humans with animal characteristics, which camp might he fall into at the end when the British are discussing the death (and value)
of the elephant?
You also have to write about those below (please do write according to below and mention about those in your essay):
Exposition and scene: (where, how, why?)
Vocabulary: author’s voice (tone- intention, emotion, attitude), diction(word choice, vocabulary(syntax-ordered sentence/words), tempo-
speed, cliché- old, tired, over used (stale, place holder, unspecific))
Sentences (syntax, patterns)
Dialogue (use of voices/scenes)
Structure (pace, time order, “hook”, conclusion)
Characterization
Reminders:
– Use specific textual examples from your chosen author(depth).
– You do not have to pick your “favorite” piece: you can also choose a piece that allows you to write the most effective letter.
– No outside research is allowed. Class readings need in-text citation only (the page from which you’re drawing the example).
You do not need a works cited.
– Remember that you are writing to a fellow writer. How might he or she want to receive feedback? You can demonstrate a strong
understanding of voice, style, structure, and worldview by making your letter appeal specifically to the author. (That is, think about
your voice and consider if Reid, for example, would take feedback in the same way as Grealy?)
You can only refer or quote from below. No other resources are allowed:
1) MIRRORINGS (To gaze upon my reconstructed face) By Lucy Grealy
2) My Body, My Weapon, My Shame (In the world of Big Ten football, you feast on inflicting pain-on and off the field. You do it because
you can. Because you weigh 300 pounds and your arms are bigger than most students’ heads. Because winning games makes you a star and
makes the coaches happy. Because it’s what’s expected of you) By Elwood Reid
Please find the reading on your own if you wanna mention about this reading.
3) A CLACK OF TINY SPARKS (Remembrances of a gay boyhood) By Bernard Cooper
https://facweb.northseattle.edu/jbopp/A%20Clack%20of%20Tiny%20Sparks.pdf
Open Letter Example :
https://www.marxists.org/archive/zola/1898/jaccuse.htm
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/oct/03/sinead-o-connor-open-letter-miley-cyrus
https://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html
“Letter to a Writer”
Background: An open letter is a specific form of argumentation that recognizes two audiences. The direct audience is the addressee of
the letter, the person (or people or idea or company or government) to whom you explicitly write. The indirect or implied audience is
an audience that is not necessarily mentioned in the letter but has reason to “overhear” and be persuaded by your argument. Famous
examples of open letters include Dr. Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” (direct audience: a skeptical group of southern
clergymen; indirect audience/goal: arguing for the necessities and urgencies of the Civil Rights Movement to American citizens), Émile
Zola’s “J’accuse…!” (direct audience: the President of France; indirect audience: an anti-Semitic government and people of France),
and Sinéad O’Connor’s recent letter to Miley Cyrus (direct audience: Miley; indirect audience: young and successful female artists, the
predatory, sexist recording industry).
Purpose: This writing will allow you to show your understanding of a particular writer’s strategies (you are “reading as a writer,” as
Mike Bunn says) as well as a larger knowledge of how creative nonfiction works in essays with different situations and similar stories.
Assignment: You will write a letter, minimum 1,000 words,—Bernard Cooper—praising or critiquing (or a bit of both!) his use of creative
nonfiction. The author is your direct audience, but you are also writing with your class peers and me in mind as an indirect or implied
audience. Show the essay author that you have a strong understanding of his piece (this is depth, this is showing your direct audience
that you know his writing well), but also show us that you understand this piece within the broader context of our class (demonstrate
the breadth of your understanding about creative nonfiction as we have encountered it so far). Ultimately, you are asking yourself how
effectively this author uses the tools of creative nonfiction to make a story from a situation. (You are not offering an opinion on
which situation(s) you like better, or which essay is most similar to your life…)
Reminders:
– Use specific textual examples from your chosen author whenever possible (depth).
– You do not have to pick your “favorite” piece: you can also choose a piece that allows you to write the most effective letter.
– No outside research is allowed. Class readings need in-text citation only (the page from which you’re drawing the example). You
do not need a works cited.
– Remember that you are writing to a fellow writer. How might he or she want to receive feedback? You can demonstrate a strong
understanding of voice, style, structure, and worldview by making your letter appeal specifically to the author. (That is, think about
your voice and consider if Reid, for example, would take feedback in the same way as Grealy?)
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